


Something About Her

by TheGayShipper (Miss_Vanderwaal)



Category: The Bold Type
Genre: AU where Kat is Adena's bus crush, F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-05
Updated: 2017-10-05
Packaged: 2019-01-09 10:35:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,508
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12274644
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Miss_Vanderwaal/pseuds/TheGayShipper
Summary: She certainly didn’t believe in love at first sight, nor even in passion at first sight, but fascination at first sight was a whole nother story.





	Something About Her

**Author's Note:**

> This is the first Kadena fic I write from Adena's point of view. I've always been afraid of saying something inaccurate in regards of her faith, but I won't let this fear stop me anymore :)
> 
> Ps: THE BOLD TYPE WAS RENEWED FOR TWO MORE SEASONS, CAN I GET AN AMEN IN HERE???

   Adena liked summer in general, but not after she’s had to work all day and then walk seven blocks in search of a new tripod for her camera. It was pleasantly cool in that bus, though, because of the air conditioner and she almost smiled when she caught sight of a vacant seat by a window in the back.

   She wasn’t one to sleep outside of home but that day had been particularly rough and her eyes begged for any type of rest. She closed them, leaning her head slightly against the window so she would hopefully regain a bit of her energy.

   Maybe she did sleep a little, maybe not. Either way, her eyes abruptly opened after a while, as the bus got to the next stop. She idly glanced at the people who were in line to board. Her eyes fell on a girl at the end of the line, whose thumb was scrolling down and then up on the screen of an iPhone. Adena felt a little smile tugging at the corner of her lips. The girl looked utterly bored.

   Adena watched as she lifted her head from her phone and huffed with a hand impatiently on her hip. She was probably suffering with how hot it was, too. She was wearing a black tank top and denim mini shorts; her curly hair was tied up in a bun atop her head.

   Adena’s eyes lowered timidly to the girl’s legs. She spent a second or two observing them for what they were – beautiful legs – until she noticed an also beautiful tattoo of a Matryoshka doll on the girl’s left lower leg. Its bright colors made it impossible for Adena to not see it now and she smiled again as she wondered what had been the girl’s motivations for getting it.

   Adena’s eyes went up from the tattoo and suddenly the girl was staring right back at her. Adena panicked for a second but there was a knowing little smirk on the girl’s lips, which told Adena that she was fine with being checked out by a stranger at that moment, so Adena smiled back, shakily, but still.

   They kept flirting with each other just using their eyes until the very moment the girl had to turn her head away and actually get on the bus. Adena missed the contact immediately, as if she wasn’t gonna see her again, but then the girl was strutting confidently to the seat at Adena’s left side. The same knowing little smirk was curving her lips.

\- Hello – she said as she sat down.

\- Hi – Adena breathed out through a surprised full smile. – Sorry, I don’t wanna sound rude, or cliché, for that matter, but, uh… have we seen each other before?

\- No – the girl calmly answered. – And speaking of clichés, I’d remember you if I had seen you somewhere before.

   Adena was only able to lower her head and laugh timidly at that while blushing furiously. _I’d remember you too,_ she wanted to say.

\- I simply caught you looking at me as if you thought I was cute – the girl added, tactfully. – I hope I got the message right, because I think you’re cute too.

   Adena’s cheeks, as well as other parts of her body, were on fire at that point. She raised her head to meet the girl’s eyes.

\- Wow, you really don’t play those stupid games.

   The girl shrugged.

\- Life’s short.

   Adena took a second to take that in. Those weren’t the words she would expect to hear coming from such a young person. They encouraged her to not play games too, though.

\- I do think you’re cute – she said, in honor of all the times she hadn’t said it in high school, and then in college, and now during her adult life, given her shyness. Damn, it felt good complementing a stranger. People should do it more often.

   The girl grinned, and that full, honest smile tugged at Adena’s heartstrings.

\- I’m Kate Edison – the girl held out her hand –, although every single human being in my social circle calls me Kat.

   Adena stared down at the girl’s hand for a second, unsure if she wanted her to be part of that social circle.

\- Adena El-Amin – she shook Kat’s hand after blinking her own uncertainties away. If Kat didn’t want Adena to call her by that nickname, she wouldn’t have mentioned it.

\- As unique as it is beautiful – Kat said softly, still holding Adena’s hand.

   Adena smiled thankfully in return, slowly moving her hand away from Kat’s.

\- May I ask what’s the meaning behind that? – she pointed at Kat’s left lower leg – It’s gorgeous.

\- Oh, thank you – Kat glanced at the spot as well, grinning one more time. – My mom loves them. The Matryoshkas. She’s a therapist and, once when I was little, she used one of them to teach me that there’s a lot more inside of a person than what you can see on the outside. I never forgot that. It’s, like, the advice I’ve always lived by.

   Adena needed another moment to take that explanation in. _That_ was basically the description of The Women Behind the Veil, the project she was currently working on. The coincidence, together with something new and incomprehensible about those soft words in general, about that straightforwardness, about _her,_ made Adena ever so slightly tear up.

\- May I ask you something personal now? – Kat probably found weird how silent Adena still was. 

   The woman nodded, finally looking up again at her newest crush.

\- Does your religion… allow you to get a tattoo?

   Adena smiled at the way Kat asked the question, seeming to be afraid of saying something wrong. Most non-Muslims talked with her about faith like that, as if they were walking on eggshells.

\- Technically, no – Adena responded, patiently. – It also doesn’t technically allow me to act on my lesbian impulses, but that fact has never stopped me from doing so.

   Adena thoroughly enjoyed watching Kat’s discreetly astonished expression after that particular response. Her biggest guilty pleasure was to make strangers uncomfortable with pieces of information like those.

\- Bottom line is: if we were to take every single technicality inside _any_ sacred book into our day-to-day life – she added –, we wouldn’t be here.

   Kat analyzed those words in silence for a moment and then smiled as if she had come to the conclusion that they were pretty smart.

\- Preach it, girl.

   They both giggled.

\- I guess it’s my turn again – Adena waited for Kat to give her a nod. – What’s your sexual orientation?

   Kat took a deep breath, as if that answer was going to be a bit more complicated than a single word.

\- If I were to fill up a form or something, I’d check the bisexual box, but I do have a special fondness toward the ladies.

   Adena’s heart raced. Kat was blatantly flirting with her again, those brown eyes were pinned onto hers. She couldn’t think of anything smart enough to say to that this time, so she turned her head to the window for a second, half conscious that she was doing it. The bus had stopped again. Her heart clenched in frustration.

\- Shoot, the next one is me.

\- Oh – it was bittersweet to notice that Kat seemed to be disappointed too. – Well, it’s been a pleasure, Adena El-Amin.

   Kat’s tone was filled with the unpleasant sound of goodbye. She held out her hand again. Shaking it now hurt more than Adena had thought it would.

\- Right back at you, Kat Edison.

   Between Adena’s feet, there was the bag from the computer store with her brand new tripod in. She grabbed it with her left hand and was about to get up when Kat reached her forearm.

\- Wait, can I just… – the youngest began looking for something in her small shoulder bag.

   Adena faced her one more time, thinking that maybe she would ask for her phone number and then save it on her own phone, but what she did do was take Adena’s right hand and write her own number on her palm with a pen.

   That specific contact made Adena’s whole body tingle. It was so old school, so much more charming and intimate than if they had simply switched numbers on their actual phones. Adena let out a brief chuckle as the tip of the pen tickled her palm.

\- Feel free to call me, text me or scrub it off – Kat looked up at her again.

   Adena glanced down at the number, aware of her own goofy smile.

\- I definitely won’t scrub it off – she finally rose to her feet and got off the bus.

   Once she was walking towards her building, Adena couldn’t help but to stare at her palm, letting all that goofiness out. She certainly didn’t believe in love at first sight, nor even in passion at first sight, but fascination at first sight was a whole nother story.

   As she realized that she already knew that phone number by heart, Adena confessed to herself that she was completely fascinated.


End file.
